Latino YouTube Network MiTu Raises $10 Million

by Natalie Jarvey

Latino YouTube network MiTu has raised $10 million in funding from lead investor Upfront Ventures and existing investors. 

The Culver City digital media firm will use the funding to build out production facilities in Los Angeles and Mexico City. It will also hire additional engineering and sales staff to support application development. 

MiTu was founded by CEO Doug Greiff, Beatriz Acevedo andRoy Burstin in 2012 and has since grown to work with more than 1,200 YouTube creators that have a combined 40 million subscribers and 400 million monthly views. MiTu president Acevedo was named to THR's inaugural Silicon Beach Power 25 list for her work growing the business. 

"Latinos are a high demand demo, driving population growth yet their media choices have been limited," Acevedo said. "We are the leading digital media company for Latinos, we create culturally-relevant content, discover new break-out talent and are a fresh alternative for advertisers, networks, studios and global Hispanic audience."

Lead investor Upfront Ventures was one of the early investors in Maker Studios, which recently sold to Disney for up to $950 million. Managing partner Mark Suster led the investment in MiTu. 

"When I met the team at MiTu I knew they understood the mixture of Latino meets online video better than anybody else I had met and became excited to be a partner with them," Suster said. 

MiTu, which focuses on lifestyle verticals such as health, beauty and home, recently expanded into pop culture with the launch of the Macho channel. The anchor show, El Show With Chuey Martinez, is currently being adapted into a late-night series for HLN. The network is backed by existing investors that include The Chernin Group, Machinima chairman Allen DeBevoise and Advancit Capital, the venture capital firm founded by Shari Redstone and Jason Ostheimer. 

Viva Cinema Latino Film Festival set for 6/27 & 6/28 at Mattatuck Museum

Organized by the Connecticut Film Festival, the second annual ¡Viva Cinema! Latino Film Festival will feature more than 75 narrative, documentary, short, animation and student films and will take place Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, at the Mattatuck Museum on the Green in downtown Waterbury.

¡Viva Cinema!, a spin-off of the popular Connecticut Film Festival, has selected two award-winning and thought-provoking feature length films to headline this year’s two-day festival. Saturday morning will feature a program geared for children (12 and up) including animations and narrative shorts written and directed by Hispanic filmmakers and animators.

On Friday, June 27, ¡Viva Cinema¡ will present “Pelo Malo” (Bad Hair), 2013, 93 minutes, written and directed by renowned Venezuelan filmmaker Mariana Rondón and produced by Marité Ugás. This film is the winner of 11 prestigious international awards and three other nominations including: The Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián International Film Festival and Best Film at The Havana Film Festival. “Pelo Malo” follows the journey of a young Venezuelan boy looking for love and acceptance. “Junior”, who is looking to please his mother, wants to straighten his hair and dress like a fashionable pop star for a class photo, which leads to his mother’s rejection and question of the young boy’s sexual ambiguity.

Friday’s film premiere will be followed by a catered after party at the Mattatuck Museum compliments of Michael Bick’s: Some Things Fishy Catering and will include Zevia soda, and Thomas Hooker beer.

On Saturday, June 28 beginning at 10:30 a.m. ¡Viva Cinema! will begin with a program of animated and narrative shorts for children ages 12 and up and their adult caregivers and friends. Saturday evening will feature the northeast premiere of “Viva Cuba Libre: Rap is War,” directed by Mexican west coast filmmaker, Jesse Acevedo. This film is about an extraordinary rap duo: Los Aldeanos, who is sweeping the Cuban underground with their urgent lyrics about the dire economic and political state of their beloved country.

Los Aldeanos began as one of many underground Rap Cubano groups based in Havana, Cuba and is now heralded as the voice of the lost generation. They are banned from performing in all official concert halls or venues and their music is distributed solely by hand, in total secrecy for fear of government persecution. They perform in make-shift venues and promote the concerts only hours before they actually go on stage, still managing to gather crowds in the thousands. Director Jesse Acevedo, along with an anonymous film crew, risked their freedom and lives while using guerrilla methods and hidden cameras as they take the viewer inside a new revolution brewing within Cuba. Ever fearful of reprisal, the identities of the crew are kept secret. Those who do speak out are at great risk of imprisonment.

It is recommended that tickets and day passes be purchased in advance. Seating is limited. Single tickets are $7 for adults and children (12 and up). Day passes for Friday and Saturday are $30. For more information, full schedules and to purchase individual movie tickets and day passes, visit www.vivacinemafilmfestival.com

Visit www.MattatuckMuseum.org or call 203-753-0381 for more information on all of the museum’s adult and children’s programs, events and exhibits.

Ruben Blades Releases New CD TANGOS Today

Tangos, the stunning new CD from Ruben Blades, is set for release via Sunnyside Records today, June 24th.

The best songs are those that provide messages that reach beyond the genre into which they are born. There are lyrics that can move people deeply, even when the composer and listener are separated by oceans.

The tremendous poet, composer and actor Rubén Blades is the sort who can plumb the depths of human emotion. Over his industrious and varied career, Blades has been a voice of passion, awareness and social consciousness throughout the Spanish-speaking world. He also possesses a wide-ranging interest in ideas and art, which has led to his involvement in projects with intriguing musical blends, including his new recording Tangos, a fascinating partnership of Blades's classic salsa compositions with Argentinean tango.

Blades's interest in tango music led him to reach out to his long time friend and collaborator Carlos Franzetti. Both were intimately involved in the New York Latin jazz and salsa scenes of the late 1970s and early 1980s and they befriended each other while working on a number of recordings, including the massive releases of Siembra (1978) and Maestra Vida (1980) and the music for the films Beat Street (1984) and Q&A (1990).

The initial idea for a collaboration using tango material was proposed nearly a decade ago but plans were delayed while Blades served as the Minister of Tourism for his native Panama from 2004 to 2009. Blades never forgot the idea and he began to hint at a possible tango project with Franzetti while touring Latin America shortly after his term ended.

Blades's hints led to an invitation from Gustavo Mozi for the two to close the World Tango Festival in Buenos Aires during the summer of 2010. The Festival gave Blades and Franzetti the perfect opportunity to tackle the project.

Franzetti began by arranging five of Blades's compositions for their performance: "Pablo Pueblo," "Ligia Elena," "Ella," "Paula C" and "Pedro Navaja." At the Festival, Blades and Franzetti were accompanied by the fantastic Leopoldo Federico Orchestra, which also recorded the pieces shortly thereafter. Once they returned to New York, Blades and Franzetti worked on arranging another six compositions, which were recorded with a tango quintet, with the strings and woodwinds recorded later in Prague.

Ruben Blades has proven himself to be one of the greatest lyricists and songwriters of our time. The idea to frame his lyrics with the tremendous arrangements of Carlos Franzetti in the tango idiom only increases the drama of his poetry. Tangos will prove to cement the legacy of this master songwriter and the ability of his songs to transcend musical borders.

Tangos is set for release June 24th on Sunnyside Records.

Summer Stage Concerts -- July 7 Through July 13

Don't miss this year's Summer Stage concerts throughout the entire New York City. These events will feature an abundance and variety of Latino music and arts.

Antonio Banderas Shines In Cannes As Elite Mercenary In 'Expendables 3'

Antonio Banderas arrived in Hollywood 23 years ago and was told that he would only get "bad guy" roles in minor films, but on Sunday at Cannes he confirmed that being in "The Expendables 3" along with big names such as Sylvester Stallone and Harrison Ford "means a lot" for the Hispanic community.

Banderas, who plays a former Spanish armed forces member in the third film in the saga created by Stallone, was much more serious than his cast companions at the huge press conference where the film was presented at the Cannes Film Festival.

After joking that he hated his cast members – who also include Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Stratham, Dolph Lundgren and Wesley Snipes – he made a statement about the Hispanic presence in Hollywood films.

"When I came to Los Angeles 23 years ago to do 'The Mambo Kings,' someone told me that if I wanted to continue there I was going to play all the movie bad guys" in less-than-stellar-quality films, Banderas said.

But now "things have changed" - the good guy can be Hispanic and the bad guy a blond with blue eyes. Movies have opened up other possibilities and that is good for Hispanic community, Banderas said.

"For a Spaniard like me to be part of this film means a lot for my community. I'm very, very happy to be part of this group of legends," the actor said.

The Malaga-born Banderas said that making the film has been an enjoyable and positive experience, but he acknowledged that he had not yet seen the final cut because up until he traveled to Cannes he had been finishing up the film "The 33" about 33 miners who survived for 70 days buried some 2,300 feet below ground in a partially-collapsed Chilean mine in 2010.

LA Film Festival 2014: A Look at Latino Films at the Showcase

By Francisco Salazar (staff@latinpost.com)

On June 11, the 20th edition of the Los Angeles Film Festival will begin with a number of anticipated films at the festival. A number of these include the world premiere of Clint Eastwood's "Jersey Boys" and the LA premieres of "Love Is Strange," "Snowpiercer, and "The Two Faces of January." While these films will be shown in the gala presentations, Latino films will dominate the documentary and narrative competition slates and the international slate.

The LA festival is known for finding new voices in cinema and has also helped launch the career of many filmmakers. This year the Narrative slate is made up of nine features, and three of those films are filled with Latinos or co-productions with Latin American countries. The first Latin American film "Lake Los Angeles" was directed by Mike Ott. The feature stars Roberto Sanchez and Johanna Trujillo and tells the story of a recent U.S. immigrant Cecilia who finds herself in the charge of Francisco, a lonely Cuban immigrant long separated from his own family. The drama is the latest in a line of movies that Ott has directed and that have premiered at the LA Film Fest.

The Argentine and U.S. flick "Recommended by Enrique" will also premiere in the competition slate. The drama was directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia and tells the story of an aspiring Hollywood actress and a mysterious cowboy who find themselves trapped in a small Texas border town where time seems to stand still. The movie is based on the true story, and the cast is made of newcomers including Lino Varela and Sarah Swinwood. The competition film marks the second feature for the duo Garcia and Attieh.

While "Runoff" is not necessarily a Latino movie, it features a Latino cast and Spanish dialogue. The feature marks the film debut for Kimberly Levin and tells the story of Betty, a committed matriarch who is driven to desperate measures by a failing business, her husband's deteriorating health and a family home on the brink of foreclosure. The film stars Latinos Joseph Melendez and Kivlighan De Montebello.

Meanwhile the Documentary competition will feature one Latino-based film. "Stray Dog" by the Academy Award nominee Debra Granik ("Winter's Bone") will compete in the sidebar. The movie tells the story of Ron "Stray Dog" Hall, a biker and the exploration of his like. The movie features Alicia Soriano Hall, Felipe Angel Padilla Soriano and Felipe de Jesús Padilla Soriano and is likely to be one of the biggest huts at the festival especially with Granik recognition.

The Mexican director Fernando Embicke will return to the festival circuit with "Club Sandwich." The movie will be featured in the international Showcase sidebar and tells the story of mother and son Paloma and Hector whose relationship is tested when Hector meets Jazmin, an assertive young woman his own age who vies for his affections. The movie has been screened at numerous festivals including the New York Film Festival, the Miami International and the San Sebastian Film Festival where it garnered the Best Director award.

The Venezuelan/Spanish co-production, "The Liberator," will also make its North American premiere. The new flick was directed by Alberto Arvelo and stars Edgar Ramirez. The movie tells the story of Simon Bolivar and his journey to Latin American independence. The film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and scored mixed reviews. However Hispanic audiences will surely be driven to view the epic adventure.

"Natural Sciences" will also be featured n the International showcase. The movie is helmed by first time filmmaker Matías Lucchesi and stars Paula Hertzog and Paola Barrientos. The film tells the story of Lila who tries to escape from a boarding school on horseback. "Natural Sciences" is a co-production between Argentina and France and also features Spanish dialogue.